Chapter 2

Ben stepped out from his office in the Goldcrest store and walked out onto the sales floor. He came across Cordelia who was helping a couple young ladies who were looking at the rack that held the royal style renaissance dresses.

Once the ladies were measured and told the sizes they should be looking for Cordelia left them to look through the dresses on their own.

She crossed the room when she saw Ben enter to greet him.

"Hello, stranger, we haven't seen you around the store in a while. Now that you have so many stores in every kingdom you don't have the time for us simple folks anymore? You know even if I'm only a woman I am still your Sales Manager, you should show us hard working employees some appreciation now and then." Cordelia jokingly scolded Ben for not having shown up in a few weeks.

This young lady was always teasing him. She never treated him like an Archduke or a boss and Ben was happy for it. They had known each other since he first started out here and they always continued to act like friends to one another.

Ben laughed and said, "You better be careful Cordelia yes you are my Sales Manager but you have some serious competition in Wolfmere. I actually have a beautiful young woman working there who is my Store Manager, she actually holds the same title as Baynard does here!" If she wanted to tease then he would rib her right back then.

"Who is my competition? I demand to know who this woman is and why she has a higher title than me when I have been working for you twice as long!" She exclaimed while stamping her foot in mock frustration.

Ben smiled and said, "Hmm, perchance are we a little jealous? You do not have to be though she may have a higher job title than you, but she is actually a slave I purchased at the Wolfmere slave market. She was once a noble and has a decent education so I pulled her out of the slave market. I gave her a job, a place to live, and a free run of the capital city when she isn't working. Apparently, her family was stripped of their noble title for criminal acts and she was basically tied up in it just because she had the same last name as those in her house who had performed the offenses."

As Ben explained the situation of what had happened Cordelia's smile began to vanish and she actually looked a little pale.

With a worried look, she asked, "What was her last name? Who is the girl you bought?" She quietly asked.

Ben frowned and replied, "Her name is Priscilla Clavell. I was told she had nothing to do with whatever happened but the family owed so much in debts and criminal fines the household was auctioned and most of the nobles were sold into slavery to make up for the costs owed to the kingdom.

Cordelia walked past Ben into the hallway just behind him and sat down in one of the many luxuries chairs against the wall.

Ben saw the look of worry and panic on her face. He walked over concerned not understanding what had happened.

Cordelia? Are you okay? Tell me what's wrong? He asked genuinely worried.

She looked around with a look of hesitation then said, "Can we speak...somewhere in private?"

Ben helped her up and they entered his office together. He gestured for her sit down in the brown leather chair in front of his desk.

He sat down across from her at his desk and remained silent.

She hung her head for a moment before she glanced up with a nervous smile. "I have something I should tell you. You have always been so good to me and treated me with respect. I have always felt guilty because I have had to hide a part of myself away from everyone here."

Cordelia let out a nervous sigh and said, "I wasn't always a commoner. I sure you may have spotted something was different about me because you had made a remark about it at your estate warming party.

My last name is actually Clavell, I was a noble from the same household as Priscilla. I had discovered a few years ago that my family was beginning to become involved with the criminal underworld in the Ciral Kingdom. I considered myself a smart young lady and I knew what would happen if the family was ever discovered."

She looked up at Ben after a pause to judge his reaction and continued her story, "I ran away from my family with my mother which is looked down upon in the noble families. We took what money we had and moved here to the Aregard capital and pretended to be commoners. If we had remained it would have only been a matter of time before we ended up like my cousin Priscilla and my other unlucky relatives who were unknowingly involved in our family's downfall."

Ben eyes were like saucers,everything was beginning to fall into place!

So many things about Cordelia began to make sense now to him. She was so outspoken, educated, and she even had the traits of a leader. The other young sales girls followed her every order without complaint and looked up to her like a big sister.

At his party, Ben was surprised at how she carried herself and spoke with the other nobles. When he asked her to dance it was obvious she was well trained and danced as well as the other noble women at the ball.

But to be from the same family as some young woman he happened to chance upon in a slave market? How small did the world have to be for this to happen?

Cordelia remained quiet watching Ben's many changing expressions. It was obvious she was nervous now that she had told him she was a runaway from a criminal noble family. If they were to find out she was hiding in Goldcrest the Ciral Royal Palace might put in a request to have the Aregard Kingdom extradite her to them.

Ben saw her worried expression and said, "Do not worry, alright? I'm not going to tell anyone about this and I do not want you to tell Baynard or the other sales girls. We can't take to chance that they may one day have a few too many drinks and let this slip out.

I am glad you told me and I feel special I got to learn something about you that most people do not know. Just know that I do not hold anything against you for what your family did and the same goes for your cousin Priscilla.

I believe she is living a happy life again and has more freedom now than she did as a noble. She often goes out to dinner or to visit with other relatives from the Clavell household who managed to avoid your family's accusations.

She has a beautiful room on the third floor of the store and has everything she could want or need to be given to her free of charge. The Ciral royal courts have also placed a copulation command on her which protects her from any unwanted advances from anyone.

I want you to know nothing between us has changed and I have always enjoyed the friendly relationship between the two of us. You do not treat me like a noble and I do not treat you like a commoner. We are friends and co-workers and I hope to have you always continue to work with me.

If any of these problems ever find you here, you and your mother will always be welcomed in my Dragonshome Fortress and no one will touch you there. I am also on good terms with the Ciral King and his cousin. If need be I can always sit down with him and ask him look the other way. I believe if I asked him to ignore you and your mother I truly believe he would do it."

As Ben continued to speak the bottled up emotions Cordelia had held onto for so long were finally released. She began to cry and laugh together as she listened to how Ben happily described their relationship and how he would protect her in his kingdom if she were ever in trouble.

It was all just such a relief for her after living every day in fear wondering if someone would walk into the store one day and recognize her as Cordelia Clavell of the Ciral nobles.

When Cordelia had calmed down Ben allowed her to remain in his office until she was ready to go back out on the floor. He reassured her everything would work out before he cast his Disguise spell and walked over to the Aregard Royal Palace.

Inside he checked in with King Sletten to see how things were going with his kingdom. He also explained he now had over forty cultivators and would be opening a cultivation sect soon. King Sletten wasn't sure what a Sect was until Ben explained the situation to him.

While he was there, Ben decided to extend an invitation to his daughter Princess Alessandra Sletten. He had not seen her in some time and heard she stops into the store on occasion to replenish her spirit food supplies.

Ben explained she would have to live in the sect and would be free to leave whenever she wished but if she did join the sect her cultivation would rapidly increase.

Ben would have her scanned and provide the ideal cultivation technique for her and provide her with the idea environment and resources for cultivating. Making her strong would provide a secure future for the Aregard Kingdom.

He would always appreciate the Aregard Kingdom who had helped him to grow. If King Sletten had not of treated him so well it would have been a difficult struggle to get where he is today. No matter how strong he or his kingdom ever grew he would always consider himself an Archduke and the Protector of the Aregard Kingdom as well.

From the royal palace, Ben went to his Goldcrest business district and collected his profits. It was now beginning to get late in the day so he had to hurry along to his other places by casting Zoom and gobbling Mana regeneration pills.

By the time he made it back to Dragonshome, it was just after 8:00 pm. He went over to his personal Qi chamber which was now surrounded by forty-five other Qi chambers and began to cultivate through the remainder of the night.

______________________________

The following morning Ben left his Qi Chamber to walk west of Dragonshome to the area he had previously walled off to make a sect. There was a high concrete wall on top of a hill with a smooth road leading into the Gatehouse.

Once he passed through the Gatehouse the only structure inside is the Sect Headquarters which he had built right next to the entrance for visitor convenience.

Ben walked to the opposite side of the walled-in sect grounds and began casting his Raise Earth spell close to the wall. With a little effort, he made a hill that stood around fifteen feet high.

He climbed to the top of his artificial hill and began construction of a [Sect Leader's Compound].

______________________________

[Sect Leader's Compound]: A huge inner courtyard, it has four large buildings on each side. The compound is surrounded by a wall and has one large entrance.

[Main House]: This is the home of the Sect Leader. Traditional Chinese temple architecture.

[Kwoon]: A large martial arts training hall.

[Servant House]: Twenty individual living quarters for servants who work in this compound.

[Vault]: A heavily fortified vault designed to hold weapons, armor, treasures, and currencies. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 1000g]

______________________________

Below the hill, the Sect Leader's Compound was being built on Ben started construction of four [Grand Elder's Compound].

______________________________

[Grand Elder's Compound]: A large inner courtyard, it has four large buildings on each side. The compound is surrounded by a wall and has one large entrance.

[Main House]: This is a home for Grand Elders. Traditional Chinese temple architecture.

[Kwoon]: A large martial arts training hall.

[Servant House]: Ten individual living quarters for servants who work in this compound.

[Vault]: A heavily fortified vault designed to hold weapons, armor, treasures, and currencies. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 500g]

______________________________

As these four Grand Elder's Compounds were being built he walked past them to make ten even sized lots. On those ten lots Ben placed a [Elder's Estate] on each of them.

______________________________

[Elder's Estate]: A large mansion with an indoor kwoon. The interior contains a master bedroom, a modern bathroom, kitchen, living room, and two servants rooms. [requires:wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 400g]

______________________________

Just north of the ten lots where Ben was building the Elder's Estates, he made a concrete and rebar wall across the sect grounds.

This new wall separated these Sect leader and Elder compounds from the rest of the sect grounds. The only way to enter the sectioned off area where the sect leader and the elders housing is to pass through a Gatehouse.

On the opposite side of this wall from the Elder's Estates, Ben began building fifty [Inner Sect Disciple Courtyard].

______________________________

[Inner Sect Disciple Courtyard]: A medium-sized inner courtyard, it has four large buildings on each side. The compound is surrounded by a wall and has one large entrance.

[Main House]: This is a home for inner sect disciples. One bedroom, a kitchen, a modern bathroom, living room.

[Kwoon]: A small martial arts training hall.

[requires: wood-stone-steel-glass] [Costs; 200g]

______________________________

Ben walked to the middle of the walled-in sect grounds and made a landscaped stone-paved square. Surrounding this stone paved square he began constructing most of the major buildings which were essential for the sect members who would live here.

This list of buildings consisted of a [SECT Pill House], [Training Kwoon & Gymnasium], [Grand Assembly Hall], [SECT Restaurant], [SECT Library], and [SECT Trading Center].

______________________________

[SECT Pill House]: The pill house offers labs where sect members can practice their pill dou. Any successfully created pills can be sold through the Pill House interface by any sect member if they choose. You may also add any pills you have bought or made through the Pharmacist. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 1000g]

______________________________

[Training Kwoon & Gymnasium]: A huge gymnasium with cushioned mats, mirrored walls, trampolines, climbing ropes, punching bags, fist training punching boards, wing chun wooden dummies, and a large selection of strap weights. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-rubber] [Costs; 500g]

______________________________

[Grand Assembly Hall]: An auditorium styled building with a stage and room to seat five hundred sect members. Can be used to make announcements, hold sect meetings, or provide lectures for sect members. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 500g]

______________________________

[SECT Restaurant]: A traditional two-story Chinese restaurant. Sect members can order preassigned meals through a menu interface. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass] [Costs; 200g]

______________________________

[SECT Library]: A large room which provides sect members access to system-link chairs. Sect members can learn provided cultivation techniques by using these system-link chairs. All cultivation techniques must be purchased from the System Store. You may also download all known techniques. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 1000g]

______________________________

[SECT Trading Center]: A large open hall where sect members and merchants can sell, buy, or trade with one another. [requires: wood-stone-steel-glass-marble] [Costs; 200g]

______________________________

Ben now had 10k in gold coins left so he built fifteen [Qi Gathering Chambers] all in a row against the inside of the concrete wall. He would need to make more of them later but he only had 2500k in gold coins left and it was getting late in the day.

He walked back to Dragonshome Fortress and went out to dinner with Mythia. After their meal they went to watch a new play being performed at the Auditorium Hall.

The performers did a great rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Once the play ended they walked back to the Castle together.

Mythia went off to bed and Ben went over to enter his Qi Chamber and cultivate for the remainder of the night.